The present invention relates to the packaging of stacked articles, and, more particularly, to apparatus for forming and feeding package liners used to holding stacks of articles in position within a container, such as a plastic bag.
It is common to package cookies and crackers within flexible plastic bags by folding a corrugated paper sheet to form a liner, stacking the articles in rows on the liner, and sliding this assembly into the bag. The liners normally are folded to provide a pair of parallel walls extending at right angles from a base section between the walls, and a pair of base sections outwardly of the walls. Such a liner accommodates three columns of articles, one between the walls, and one on the outer side of each wall. Each of the columns are formed by stacking the articles on edge on the three base sections of the liner.
In the past, the liners were folded manually and were manually placed into buckets where the columns of articles are stacked on the liner base sections. These manual operations limited the production rate of the product and accounted for a disproportionate part of the cost of the product.